Anisotropy of the phase-transformation plasticity in textured CuZnAl shape-memory sheets

The phase-transformation plasticity of shape-memory polycrystals is closely related to the crystallographic texture because the corresponding single-crystal is strongly anisotropic. In this study, the effect of texture on phase-transformation plasticity has been considered in CuZnAl shape-memory sheets. The textures in the dual-phase and parent austenite states were measured and then analyzed by the orientation distribution functions. The texture of the parent austenite is determined as a [1 1 0] fiber texture. Subsequently, from the texture parameters and single-crystal properties, the recoverable phase-transformation strains in the different directions of the rolling plane were estimated by the statistical averaging method, and the corresponding experiments were performed. It was found that the experimental results are in agreement with the calculated results. It is explained that this anisotropy of phase-transformation plasticity is determined by the preferred distribution of the constituent grain orientations. Through the analysis of texture and transformation strain anisotropy, it is possible to reasonably tailor textured shape-memory materials in practical applications.